Miami private school offers students bulletproof panels for backpacks

A Miami private school is offering students bullet-resistant panels for their backpacks at the price of $120.

The Miami Herald reports Florida Christian School, a nondenominational institution going from preschool to high school, offers parents the option of buying ballistic armor weighing less than a pound to stick in their children's backpacks to hopefully protect them during a mass shooting. The school has never had a shooting incident. The black bulletproof insert is supposed to stop bullets like a .44 Magnum and a .357 SIG but not rifle bullets.

"I’d rather be prepared for the worst than be stuck after saying 'Wow, I wish we would’ve done that,'" George Gulla, the school’s head of security, told the Herald. "It’s not required. But if it gives you extra peace of mind..."

The Herald reports the school has a partnership for the panels with Hialeah-based Applied Fiber Concepts, a body-armor company owned by Alex Cejas, who has two children enrolled at the school. The school has also implemented several other security measures, including "sound-enabled surveillance cameras, uniformed security guards patrolling campus and active shooter drills," according to the Herald.